1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing a communications network and particularly, although not exclusively, for managing a telecommunications network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Communications network management is a difficult and complex task and yet it is very important that a communications network should be managed well. Good management enables costs to be kept to a minimum whilst at the same time ensuring that all the required services are provided and that the quality of service is high. Communications network management includes organisational and administrative tasks such as planning for the future and upgrading the network to cope with predicted future demands. Also, faults in the network have to be dealt with and the network maintained and monitored. Communications network management also includes operating the network and modifying or adapting it for specific purposes as these arise as well as detecting and preventing fraudulent use of the network.
Typically a network management system is used to help manage a communications network. The network management system is usually an integral part of the communications network and is used to monitor and make changes to the network.
One problem with known network management systems is that planning and implementing upgrades for the network can be difficult. For example, when a network upgrade is planned this is typically done using off-line software tools. That is, the planning process takes place separately from the communications network itself. When the upgrade is being planned it is difficult to "test" different solutions because the planning process is separate from the network management system itself.
Once the network operator has finalised the new upgrade design the upgrade can be implemented by actually installing or modifying the communications equipment and then updating the MIB model of the network. Some pieces of equipment or hardware, when installed into the network, will automatically be identified by the network. In this case the MIB can be updated automatically. However, when this does not occur, for example if the upgrade involves software, the MIB has to be manually updated by the network operator and this is time consuming and prone to errors. The wrong information may be supplied to the MIB or there may actually have been an error involved with installing the equipment. This makes it very difficult to verify that the upgrade has been completed successfully.
Often the impact of an upgrade is great and, in order to reduce this impact, the upgrade is carried out in several incremental steps. This is called pre-provisioning. When pre-provisioning is used the problems of upgrading (as described above) are repeated and this can lead to a build up of errors that are consequently more difficult to put right.
Network management also involves monitoring performance of the network and trying to predict future requirements. This also applies for network upgrades where it is required to predict the effect that the proposed upgrade will have on the network performance. Another problem is that network managers often need to carry out detailed "what if" testing, for example to study the effect of a particular component failing with respect to the services that can be provided.
FIG. 7 illustrates a prior art situation. A MIB 701 containing information about the current state of a network and equipment 703 within the network was available within a communications network management system. In order to analyse the current MIB 701 analysis tools 702 were provided which were used to operate directly on information from the MIB 701. This enabled analysis concerning the current state of the network to be obtained. However, for other analyses, involving information about past or future states of the network (and its equipment 703), information from the current MIB 701 had to be translated or transformed 706 before being stored. The translated or transformed data from the current MIB 701 was stored in one of a number of different types or kinds of data store 704. Then, in order to analyse the data from one of the stores 704, individual analysis tools 705 were used. For each type of store 704 a particular type of analysis tool 705 was required. For example, these tools 705 could be generic tools such as Microsoft Excel, which were capable of analysing many different types of information. However, these generic tools had to be adapted in order to enable them to be used with a particular store 704. It was also possible to use specific analysis tools 705, for example, "bespoke" tools, specially created for a particular task.
A number of problems exist with this prior art method. A translation or transformation 706 is required and this is time consuming, complex and can introduce errors. It is not possible to obtain the analysis in real time because this translation or transformation process 706 is time consuming. Also, the analysis obtained using the analysis tools 705 is "one step" removed from the actual MIB information and this can lead to errors of interpretation. A further problem, is that it is very difficult to test planned or future versions of the MIB using this prior art method. Also, many forms of analysis are not available using the prior art method, because analysis tools for these tasks are not available or because future versions of the MIB are required to carry out the analysis.
Theoretically, a complete record could have been retained of a MIB and stored. This stored information could then have been analysed at a later date using the analysis tools 702. However, this method is impractical because the complete MIB, once stored, could not be analysed using the analysis tools 702 without reloading the MIB and restoring it to a working condition. Such a process would be complex and time consuming as well as impractical; the current MIB would essentially have to be replaced by the "past" or stored MIB before the stored MIB could be analysed using the analysis tools 702.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for managing a communications network which overcomes or at least mitigates one or more of the problems noted above.